Yellow-Headed Water Monitor
Varanus cumingi, or the Philippine Water monitor, is a large species of monitor lizard previously recognized as a subspecies of the Water monitor (Varanus salvator), but today commonly acknowledged as a species in its own right.[1] It feeds on birds, fish, mammals and carrion. The species thrives in forest and water margins in tropical refuges.
It lives in the Philippines, and is also known as the Yellow-Headed Water Monitor because it has the highest degree of yellow coloration among all the endemic water monitor lizards in the Philippines, probably even in the world. It is mainly distributed in Samar, Leyte, and Mindanao. It inhabits primary and secondary forests, and cultivated lands. Its diet is composed of rodents, birds, fish, crustaceans, mollusks, and other invertebrates, including eggs and carrion. [2]
See also
References
- ^ Koch, A., M. Auliya, A. Schmitz, U. Kuch & W. Böhme. (2007). Morphological Studies on the Systematics of South East Asian Water Monitors (Varanus salvator Complex): Nominotypic Populations and Taxonomic Overview. pp. 109-180. In Horn, H.-G., W. Böhme & U. Krebs (eds.), Advances in Monitor Research III. Mertensiella 16, Rheinbach.
- ^ Avilon Zoo, http://www.avilonzoo.com.ph
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Related categories
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Monitor lizards · Cretaceous lizards · Helodermas · Mosasaurs
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